A couple years ago, I was an accidental parking Special Snowflake. I don't live in a town, but the family members I was babysitting for do. I didn't know about street cleaning day, and that you could only park on one side of the street during those days. I was just happy to find a parking spot. I came out and found a parking ticket under my windshield wiper. Whoops.

I felt pretty stupid, but I paid the ticket and took the lesson. Some people in town are repeat offenders, though. I've seen the same car get ticketed three times for the same offense. Actually, I was surprised to never see that car being hauled off by a tow truck, but as I said before, I don't know much about how things are done there.

Our town has an ordinance forbidding any vehicle or trailer from being parked on a street for longer than 48 hours. There are three people on our street alone who get tickets at least once every two weeks because they leave their items on the street for days. In addition, they often end up with their vehicles towed because there is a limit on how many tickets you can get before they start towing you. And then... the cars come back in the same exact spot. I don't know if they're actually SS, stupid, or if they figure the cost of the ticket/tow is worth it for the convenience of parking in front of their home.

Do they have driveways? If not, I don't understand such a rule. I routinely leave my car parked outside my house for days because I don't use it every day.

Having just come from the trendy expressions thread, all I can say is "ermegard, you guyz! Stahp!!!!"

1) Condo area is much cleaner and people are complaining less about snow today, thank the powers that be.

2) Thief is still sore about being branded a thief, but he still comes in to use our sole remaining typewriter to...you won't believe it...sit with the books he used to steal and, yes, COPY THEM OUT. He goes through reams of his own paper and all of our typewriter ribbons...and it's getting harder to find the ones that work with that particular make. (rolls eyes and prepares to go back to work after really much needed five day break due to blizzard.....)

p.s. emwithmee, I plan on using your tent expression at the next possible opportunity.

I can never understand traffic stories without diagrams, so I made a diagram. I'm in the green car in the second of the double left-turn lanes. Mr. Must Be First In Line is in the yellow car, labeled with an S for Snowflake.

We were all waiting patiently for a chance to turn left - except Mr. MBFIL wasn't so patient. He abruptly cut out of his place in line, nearly clipped my bumper as he squeezed between the two rows of cars, and pulled in front of the blue car, nearly hitting her also. He won himself one whole car length with that maneuver and wound up much further out into the intersection than he should have been, causing problems for oncoming traffic.

Two lights later I saw him stopped at a red right beside me, so it seems the line-cutting didn't save him much time.

Me, too. Never again. Yarnspinner, here are some lovely cookies to go with that tea.

Agreed. I served on the board of my community band for 4 years. Never again.My wife and I are also in the process of buying a townhome. If anyone asks if I'd be willing to serve on the association board, my answer is "absolutely not."

Sigh. I just joined a board (or should I say, I was volunteered for a board and accepted the chair position because nobody else would...) It's a sub-board to fundraise for a nonprofit organization. I've been trying to think of fundraising ideas and have been shooting e-mails off to the other members. Two of the four other members of the board have e-mailed me back, telling me they don't have time to sell tickets/other fundraising things, and don't want to ask people for money. I just...ahh. Why would you join a fundraising board then??

I was walking my dogs tonight when a motorcycle drove past us and pulled up to a driveway a few feet in front of us. Except instead of parking in the (empty) driveway, he keeps pulling forward until he's on the sidewalk just beyond the driveway. And he's parked at an angle so he takes up the entire sidewalk. I can't get buy him without walking on the lawn. So I called out "Could you move off the sidewalk please?" He turns off the bike and says "Huh?", so I said, "I asked if you could get off the sidewalk." He mutters something under his breath and then says, "A little kindness goes a long way." I was already walking by him at this point, so I just rolled my eyes and said, "I agree completely."

I'm not sure why I'm the mean one for politely asking him to move when he pulled up in front of me, parked on a sidewalk instead of a driveway (which is illegal anyway!), and blocked the whole thing.

I was walking my dogs tonight when a motorcycle drove past us and pulled up to a driveway a few feet in front of us. Except instead of parking in the (empty) driveway, he keeps pulling forward until he's on the sidewalk just beyond the driveway. And he's parked at an angle so he takes up the entire sidewalk. I can't get buy him without walking on the lawn. So I called out "Could you move off the sidewalk please?" He turns off the bike and says "Huh?", so I said, "I asked if you could get off the sidewalk." He mutters something under his breath and then says, "A little kindness goes a long way." I was already walking by him at this point, so I just rolled my eyes and said, "I agree completely."

I'm not sure why I'm the mean one for politely asking him to move when he pulled up in front of me, parked on a sidewalk instead of a driveway (which is illegal anyway!), and blocked the whole thing.

I'm not saying he wasn't wrong, but I would like to know why you couldn't just walk around him?

Being sane biker types, my husband and all our friends park their bikes in actual parking spaces. We even share parking spaces, although with sidecar rigs, that is a little more difficult.

That said, I have seen bikers park their bikes (2-wheelers) in their hotel rooms when traveling. A little extreme for me, but I guess they are concerned about theft and/or damage.

Of course, a Russian sidecar bike would be 1) very visible - you don't see sidecar rigs every day; 2) is kind of on the slower side so it would be really easy to catch. The places that scare me are ones with large concentrations of kids who like to climb. I never let the bike out of my sight at custard stands or any place with high concentrations of kids with sugar highs.

Logged

"The Universe puts us in places where we can learn. They are never easy places, but they are right. Wherever we are, it's the right place and the right time. Pain that sometimes comes is part of the process of constantly being born." - Delenn to Sheridan: "Babylon 5 - Distant Star"

I was walking my dogs tonight when a motorcycle drove past us and pulled up to a driveway a few feet in front of us. Except instead of parking in the (empty) driveway, he keeps pulling forward until he's on the sidewalk just beyond the driveway. And he's parked at an angle so he takes up the entire sidewalk. I can't get buy him without walking on the lawn. So I called out "Could you move off the sidewalk please?" He turns off the bike and says "Huh?", so I said, "I asked if you could get off the sidewalk." He mutters something under his breath and then says, "A little kindness goes a long way." I was already walking by him at this point, so I just rolled my eyes and said, "I agree completely."

I'm not sure why I'm the mean one for politely asking him to move when he pulled up in front of me, parked on a sidewalk instead of a driveway (which is illegal anyway!), and blocked the whole thing.

I'm not saying he wasn't wrong, but I would like to know why you couldn't just walk around him?

I did, because he never moved. I called out as I was approaching, and when he didn't move I just kept walking. I just think it's rude to walk on someone's lawn and won't do it if I can avoid it.

Edit: And I mean the entire conversation occurred while I was walking. He was calling out the "kindness" comment as I was already past him.

I was walking my dogs tonight when a motorcycle drove past us and pulled up to a driveway a few feet in front of us. Except instead of parking in the (empty) driveway, he keeps pulling forward until he's on the sidewalk just beyond the driveway. And he's parked at an angle so he takes up the entire sidewalk. I can't get buy him without walking on the lawn. So I called out "Could you move off the sidewalk please?" He turns off the bike and says "Huh?", so I said, "I asked if you could get off the sidewalk." He mutters something under his breath and then says, "A little kindness goes a long way." I was already walking by him at this point, so I just rolled my eyes and said, "I agree completely."

I'm not sure why I'm the mean one for politely asking him to move when he pulled up in front of me, parked on a sidewalk instead of a driveway (which is illegal anyway!), and blocked the whole thing.

I'm not saying he wasn't wrong, but I would like to know why you couldn't just walk around him?

I did, because he never moved. I called out as I was approaching, and when he didn't move I just kept walking. I just think it's rude to walk on someone's lawn and won't do it if I can avoid it.

Edit: And I mean the entire conversation occurred while I was walking. He was calling out the "kindness" comment as I was already past him.

OK, I thought you meant you stopped and asked him, standing still while you waited for him to move for you.